" He left the black-wrapped mattress on the floor, with his keys at its exact center, the toothbrush and toothpaste on the edge of the sink, the wire hangers on the old rack that concealed the bug"[,,,]
"(T)he holding of knowledge in dignified privacy helps insure desired results."
Chapter 36. SPECTACLES, TESTICLES, WALLET, AND WATCH
"By the time Milgrim had finished shaving and gotten dressed, Brown was holding a meeting in the adjoining room."
Chapter summaries (may contain plot and character teaser / "spoiler" information):
Chapter 35. GUERREROS
Tito walks down Broadway "letting the rhythm of his stride find his systema" while thinking of the Vietnamese soldier from Paris who taught his uncles. Tito leaned the systema in turn from his uncles and learned to internalize the Guerreros (Elluggua, Ogun, Oshosi, and Osun) from his aunt Juana, "at first, as a means of more deeply embracing the systema." Tito learned to treat the Guerreros as an "invisible procession" of amplified intuition. Tito meets the stranger who gives him his mission instructions to attract the attention of those pursuing the old man, then "(g)et way, but lose this [a white iPod] in the process." [628 characters]
The Santería religion which is strong in Cuba, is subtly different from Haitian Voodoo (which William Gibson featured in Neiromancer and Count Zero) or Brasilian Macumba.
All of these syncretic religions incorporate elements of Catholic faith and iconography, partly as a disguise under the ruling Spanish and Portuguese empires, and partly as Orwellian doublethink - "the act of holding two contradictory beliefs simultaneously, fervently believing both."
Chapter 36. SPECTACLES, TESTICLES, WALLET, AND WATCH
After packing all of his worldly possessions [the coat and clothing he wore, grooming aids, his book and two 5mg tabs of Rize], Milgrim feels the benzo-boost and "not unpleasurable excitement" kick in as he and Brown leave the New Yorker in a "recently washed silver Corolla." Brown tells Milgrim he will let him wait in the car using the threat of no more Rize to keep Milgrim from leaving. [391 characters]
Is it only that Milgrim has no other source of money, in order to feed his drug addiction, that he is so subservient to Brown ?